Over 30 years ago, Chris Ashford released a single by his high school pals, The Germs. That single, “Forming” b/w “Sex Boy” is now widely recognized as the first Los Angeles indie punk release. In the past three decades, Chris has released legendary punk records by The Controllers, The Dils, The Skulls and others on his What Records label, the first extensive Bel-Airs reissue as well as surf revival records on his Iloke label and now Chris is exploring the jazz world on his Wondercap label. Expect to hear many of Chris’ releases as well as numerous stories about the early LA punk scene and what he is up to today!

Chris has worked with Dionysus on numerous releases and has always been a friend of mine and the label, I am looking forward to spending two hours with him and sharing with listeners!

Tune in to LuxuriaMusic.com for Over Under Sideways Down on Wed. July 3, from 3-5 PM Pacific for YES L.A.! featuring a full two-hours of early Los Angeles and San Francisco Punk with your host Lee Joseph and in-studio guest Lisa Fancher of Frontier Records. We’ll be bringing in a stack of original 45s as well as some reissues from Bacchus Archives and Frontier Record,s and will be celebrating of the re-release of the legendary one-sided silkscreen Dangerhouse Records compilation, Yes L.A. on its 35th birthday! The compilation features tracks by The Bags, The Eyes, The Alleycats, X, Black Randy, and The Germs which were all exclusive to the comp at the time of its’ release.

In the late ’70s, Dangerhouse Records–that most legendary of punk rock labels–released a handful of indispensable 7-inches and two 12-inches: records that everyone knows, worships and collects. One of the 12-inches was Black Randy’s Pass the Dust, I Think I’m Bowie, and the other, released in 1979, was the one-sided, six-song, silkscreened picture EP, Yes LA.

The title was a take-off on the seminal No Wave compilation album released a year earlier, No New York, and the Dangerhouse kids even went so far as to include the disclaimer “Not produced by Brian Eno” on the record. The original was limited to 2,000 copies, every one screened by hand and packaged in a clear bag with a white cardboard backing . Frontier Records (with the help of the meticulous Cliff and company at The Factory) has taken great pains to reproduce every detail of the original, from the ink to the bag and cardboard, right down to custom-cut mylar seals for the flap (check out these photos of the “making-of”). Still, there are a couple of difference, but we’ll let you discover them for yourself.

This week’s Over Under Sideways Down features special guest, artist Vicki Berndtalong with your show host Lee Joseph. We’ll be talking music and art and playing some of Vicki’s favorite records!

Vicki’s obsession with art, photography, and rock ‘n’ roll began early in life and continues to this day. As a child, she painted and photographed her favorite rock stars. In her teens, she was the singer of punk band called The Maggots (whose obscure AND legendary 1980 “Let’s Get Tammy Wynette” 45 now goes for hundreds of dollars) and became involved in the DIY fanzine scene, giving her and her pals reason to “sneak” backstage and interview bands. When her friends needed photos for their bands, she became a rock photographer which led her to work on album covers and music publications. Berndt has worked with Red Kross, The Muffs, Long Gone John’s Sympathy for the Record Industry, Dionysus Records, Sub Pop, Slash, IRS and many other bands, labels and music publications. Berndt currently creates merchandise for the estates of both Dee Dee and Johnny Ramone and continues to do commissions as well as merchandise in her Etsy store. Her art show, Idle Worshipopens at La Luz de Jesus Gallery on Friday, May 3 with an artist reception from 8-11 PM. The show stays up through June 2.

April 17, 2013, 3-5 PM Pacific: Mix slashing guitars with sweet melodies and harmony and what do you have? Power Pop! Tune in to Over Under Sideways Down with your host Lee Joseph on LuxuriaMusic.com for two hours of three minute gems from the ’60s, ’70s and ’80s!

On Wed., Feb 27 at 3 – 5 PM Pacific, my in studio guests on Over Under Sideways Down – LuxuriaMusic.com during Lux’s Listener Sponsorship Drive will be D. J. Bonebrake and Paul Eckman both in Orchestra Superstring who have released two CDs and one LP on Dionysus Records. We’ll be asking you to support commercial free LuxuriaMusic.com while we talk about and play tracks from D.J. and Paul’s many bands. We will also be making available a copy of Orchestra Superstring’s Kalopiasigned by both D.J. and Paul for a lucky Listener Sponsor or two! Tune in!

This Wednesday, August 15, 3 PM – 5 PM Pacific, tune in to Lee Joseph’s “Over Under Sideways Down” on LuxuriaMusic.com for a special show featuring Tony Marsico of The Martini Kings who will be playing the Tiki Oasis main stage – Friday, August 17 at 6:40. Lee and Tony will discuss Mission: Tiki Oasis 12, The Martini Kings, their new Dionysus Records release “Palm Springs Serenade,” their new self-released CD and back catalog, and some of Tony’s fabulous history playing music with the likes of The Plugz, The Cruzados, Bob Dylan, and others!

Orchestra Superstring featuring X’s D.J. Bonebrake on vibes performs Cal Tjader’s “Mamblues” at The Speakeasy in Venice, CA on Feb 13, 2012. This song is not on either of Orchestra Superstring’s Dionysus albums – enjoy!

In the late ’70s LA punk scene, Detroit/Los Angeles transplants The Dogs were considered too rock for the punks and to punk for the rockers – when their “Slash Your Face” 7″ EP was included on the legendary Killed By Death bootleg in 1987, their stature rose among records collectors with good reason – the band played aggressive MC5, Stooges, early Alice Cooper inspired motor city rock ‘n’ roll. The original line-up of The Dogs still play shows here and there – if you have a chance, go see them!

Dionysus Records has repressed the Bacchus “Fed Up” LP containing 12 Dogs tracks recorded between 1976 – 1977 and one track recorded in 1987, on white vinyl with a free digital download code in an edition of 500 copies. Click here to purchase. The album includes the tracks:

John Rock & Roll Sinclair (Studio Version) Slither Sleaze City Black Tea Younger Point Of View Fed Up Shakin’ All Over Tuff Enuff Slash Your Face Are You A Boy Or Are You A Girl John Rock & Roll Sinclair (Live Version) Years Gone By Dog In The Cathouse

When I found out that Los Angeles punk rock legend and personal friend, Alice Bag was about to release her first book, “Violence Girl,” through Feral House, I asked her if she would be interested in doing a double book signing event at La Luz de Jesus Gallery with photographer and friend Dawn Wirth who had just self published “The Bags – Hollywood Forever“ with previously unseen photos of Alice’s group taken in 1978. I had suggested to Alice that I’d love to play bass with her if she were to perform some songs. The night before the event, we rehearsed three songs along withLysa Flores.

A crowd of people showed up to see Alice, filling the gallery spaces and part of the store. After the reading and performance, a long line formed for the book signing portion of the event. Alice and Dawn kept busy for two hours signing books and chatting with fans.

Alice was a trailblazer in the early punk era and her experiences growing up in East Los Angeles, being woman in the Los Angeles punk scene, and her life after as an activist, mother and teacher are documented in her book which actually started off as a blog, Diary of A Bad Housewife. Alice’s contact with friends and fans via her blog inspired her to write this book which is not only an interesting read for fans of the early Los Angeles punk scene, but a powerful and empowering read for young people, women and Hispanics no matter what music of choice!

Here’s some video of the event – shot by my girlfriend Samantha on an iPod Touch. It was a honor to play with Alice!

Alice Bag will be reading from her new book and performing two songs on acoustic guitar, accompanied by Lee Joseph on acoustic bass. Dawn Wirth’s delicious home cooked Alice Bag Peanut Butter Brownies (packaged in brown paper Bags) will be given to the first 25 people who buy both books at the event.

Alice Bag “Violence Girl”
Alice Bag was there at the origins of L.A. punk, at the famed Masque and Whisky-a-Go-Go, hanging out with Darby Crash and the Go-Gos. But she started as Alicia Armendariz and English was her second language. She knew Mariachis better than rock music. A certain violence was passed on to her from her Mexican-American father. The proximity of the East L.A. barrio to Hollywood is as close as a short drive on the 101 freeway, but the cultural divide is enormous. Born to Mexican-born and American-naturalized parents, Alicia Armendariz migrated a few miles west to participate in the free-range birth of the 1970s punk movement. Alicia adopted the punk name Alice Bag, and became lead singer for early punk visionaries The Bags, and her Alice Bag Band was featured in Penelope Spheeris’ documentary The Decline of Western Civilization.

Here is a life of many crossed boundaries, from East L.A.’s musica ranchera to Hollywood’s punk rock; from a violent male-dominated family to female-dominated transgressive rock bands.

Violence Girl takes us from a violent upbringing to an aggressive punk sensibility; this time a difficult coming-of-age memoir culminates with a satisfying conclusion, complete with a happy marriage and children. Nearly a hundred never before published photographs energize the text in remarkable ways.

Dawn Wirth “The Bags – Hollywood Forever”
Dawn Wirth is one of the few to document the “first wave” of the Los Angeles Punk Rock scene. Her initial work for various fanzines such as Flipside, Sniffin’ Glue, Gen X and White Stuff as well as the fliers she created for unsigned local bands and fanclubs helped establish the visual esthetic of American Punk. The first book in the L.A. punk series, The Bags-Hollywood Forever unearths never before seen photos of The Bags early line-up, with only 36 exposures, Dawn makes every shot count – intimate shots of a band that would change the sound of rock for generations to come. “The Bags – Hollywood Forever” – self published

“Dawn Wirth’s verite images are essential to any understanding of first wave Los Angeles punk rock 1977-79…”– Brendan Mullen, founder of the Masque

“Sometimes pictures speak louder than words and in 1977 during the early days of L.A. punk rock, Dawn Wirth was on the front lines, camera in hand, capturing the moment with terrific photographs.”– John Denny, lead singer for The Weridos